There are several things that must happen for you to become a true Bostonian. First, you must pick a side in the Santarpio’s Pizza vs Regina Pizzeria rivalry (Santarpio’s all the way). Second, you must have a love/hate relationship with winter. Finally, and this is most important, you must ride the roller coaster that is being a Red Sox fan between the months of June and August.
It is during this time that teams struggle to find their makeup, which can either make or break them. I expect many young fans underwent this “baptism” of sorts this summer, as the Sox went through an almost Jekyll-and-Hyde type of mid-season narrative. As we finally close in on the end of August, we finally start to understand what this Red Sox team is and how it may fair come October baseball.
The most important thing for any club is to find some sort of team identity or rallying point. For example, in 2013, the Red Sox found it easy to rally around the Marathon Bombings for the city of Boston. In seasons prior to that, they knew that their identity was to pitch well and grind out at bats. This season has been a unique one for the Red Sox, but they have certainly found their elusive identity.
In the early part of August, the team found itself in an almost eternal skid, seemingly unable to pull themselves out of it for more than one game out of every four. Then came a series against the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland swept Boston out of the postseason last year, which means they obviously represent motivation of some kind. In a night that was a back and forth affair, the Red Sox came away with a 12-10 walk off victory in the form of a 3-run walk off home run by Christian Vazquez.
This win was significant for a few reasons. First, it was possibly the first poor start of the season for Chris Sale, who is still the favorite for the American League Cy Young Award. The offense proved that they can pick up their teammates on the rare night that they might not be perfect. Second, the offense came from unlikely contributors. Vazquez hit only the fifth home run of his career in the walk off win, and the Red Sox saw contributions from the newly acquired Eduardo Nunez. However, the pace was really set by a young rookie by the name of Rafael Devers.
The combination of Nunez’s play and Devers being called up lit a spark, which became the flame that still burns underneath this Red Sox team. Rafael Devers has been the anchor of the lineup, as the highly-touted prospect begins his career. His performance has also rejuvenated another rookie that started the season with Boston, Andrew Benintendi. This team’s youth movement, combined with veterans who are learning as much from the youngsters as they are teaching them, gives the team a winner’s mentality, and an identity that is built around the fun that the newcomers feel for the sport of baseball.
With so much young talent, there is every reason to believe that the Red Sox will be a perennial contender in October. As far as 2017 goes, we finally seem to have a feel for this ride, so it’s time to just sit back and see how long it lasts.